Medicare 2026

Medicare Help in Kansas City: Free, Unbiased Options

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — If Medicare feels like a maze, you are not alone. With a growing population of older adults here — more than 114,000 people age 65 and up call the Kansas City metro home — the good news is that free, unbiased help is close by. You do not have to sort through mailers, TV ads, and robocalls on your own.

Kansas City has more Medicare help than you might think

This guide walks through where to turn for honest answers, how licensed agents fit in, and how to tell the difference between the two.

Start with SHIP: free, unbiased, and not selling anything

SHIP stands for the State Health Insurance Assistance Program. It is a federally funded program that provides one-on-one Medicare counseling at no cost. SHIP counselors do not sell insurance and do not earn commissions. Their only job is to help you understand your options.

In Missouri, SHIP is called CLAIM (Community Leaders Assisting the Insured of Missouri). You can reach CLAIM at 1-800-390-3330 or online at missouriclaim.org. If you live on the Kansas side of the metro, Kansas SHICK (Senior Health Insurance Counseling for Kansas) is available at 1-800-860-5260.

SHIP counselors can help you:

• Understand the differences between Original Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Medigap, and Part D.
• Walk through enrollment deadlines.
• Review your current coverage during the Annual Enrollment Period (Oct. 15 – Dec. 7).
• Screen you for programs that help with premiums and drug costs, like Extra Help and Medicare Savings Programs.

Because SHIP is unbiased, it is a smart first stop — especially if you are new to Medicare or feel overwhelmed.

What a licensed agent or broker can (and cannot) do

Licensed insurance agents also help people with Medicare, and many are knowledgeable and professional. The key difference: agents are paid commissions by the insurance companies whose plans they sell. Some represent only one or two carriers. Others, called independent brokers, represent several.

That does not make agents bad — it just means you should know how they are paid and which carriers they work with. Kansas City has plenty of licensed local agencies, and a good agent will:

• Be upfront about which carriers they represent.
• Ask about your doctors, prescriptions, and travel habits before suggesting anything.
• Explain trade-offs, not just benefits.
• Never pressure you to enroll on the spot.

If someone shows up uninvited at your door, or calls out of the blue about "new Medicare benefits," that is a red flag. CMS marketing rules prohibit those tactics.

How many plan choices are we talking about?

Kansas City is in Jackson County, where 49 Medicare Advantage plans are available for 2027, offered by 8 different carriers, according to CMS Plan Finder data. Stand-alone Part D drug plans are counted separately by CMS and are widely available across Missouri.

That is a lot of choices. This is exactly why a SHIP counselor or a trustworthy agent can save you hours of guesswork.

Star Ratings — a 1-to-5 quality score CMS publishes each year — can be one factor to consider, but they are only one piece of the puzzle. Your doctors, your drug list, and your budget usually matter more.

2027 rules worth knowing before you call

When you sit down with a counselor or agent, it helps to understand a few program-level facts for 2027:

• Part D out-of-pocket cap: $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027. Once you hit that amount in covered drug costs, you pay nothing more for covered prescriptions the rest of the year.
• Part D maximum deductible: $615 for 2026 and $700 for 2027 (plans can charge less).
• The "donut hole" is gone. As of 2025, Part D has three phases instead of four.
• Medicare Prescription Payment Plan: Optional. Lets you spread your drug costs across the calendar year in monthly payments instead of paying all at once at the pharmacy.
• IRMAA: Higher-income beneficiaries pay extra for Parts B and D. Surcharges start above $109,000 in income for single filers in 2026.
• Key dates: Annual Enrollment Period runs Oct. 15 – Dec. 7. Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment runs Jan. 1 – March 31.

How to decide who to call first

A simple rule of thumb:

• Call SHIP/CLAIM first if you want an unbiased overview, you qualify (or might qualify) for financial assistance, or you just want someone to explain how the parts fit together.
• Call a licensed local agent when you are ready to compare specific plans side by side and want help enrolling. Ask which carriers they represent and how they are paid.
• Call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) anytime, 24/7, for official answers directly from Medicare.
• Use medicare.gov/plan-compare to run your own drug list and doctors through the official Plan Finder.

You can use more than one of these. Many people talk with SHIP first, then meet with an agent to finalize a choice.